1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for experimenting or scientifically testing engine control parts capable of testing the performance of various control parts constituting a control system of an engine in various operation states upon being mounted on the engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto now, when the air-fuel ratio of an electronic engine is controlled, either maps or feedback control has been used. Instead of this, however, model-based control is recently put into practice as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-27008.
Meanwhile, since the development timings of various engine control parts, such as actuators, which are newly developed for mounting onto an engine, do not necessarily synchronize with each other, it is general that the performance test of the control parts are individually carried out in respective single parts.
Accordingly, when a scientific test was performed with an actual engine system, it could take a long time to carry out a performance test by interaction or the like with other engine control parts. Thus, there was a problem that a development cycle must have been prolonged. Particularly, confirmation of responsiveness or the like at the moment of change in the load or transient response of the engine was very difficult.
Against this problem, a device for testing automobile parts, which tests the performance of various engine control parts constituting an engine system for vehicle mounting by using a simulation tool which reproduces the same state as a case where the parts are practically mounted on an actual vehicle, is suggested as a proposal in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-206991.
By performing a test by using this simulation tool, the performance of respective parts can be tested under the conditions approximated to those mounted on the actual engine system. However, even in a case where this testing device is used, it is difficult to test the performance of the respective parts in all operation states of the engine. Particularly, since the simulation tool is obtained merely by reproducing, on a desk, the same conditions as those when being mounted on actual equipment, it is not easy to check hardware and software including control performance, such as the responsiveness of an electronic control unit in various operation states of the engine.